US lifts missile restrictions on South Korea, ending range and warhead limits – By Brian Kim (Defense News) / May 26 2021
SEOUL — South Korea can now develop ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets far beyond the Korean Peninsula, following the United States’ approval to lift a 42-year-old restriction on its ally’s missile development program.
South Korean and U.S. leaders announced the termination of missile guidelines imposed on Seoul in 1979. At the time, South Korea wanted to acquire American technology to develop its own missiles, and in return, the Asian nation agreed to limit the range of its missiles to 180 kilometers with a maximum payload of 500 kilograms.
In the face of increasing threats from North Korea, the guidelines have been revised four times. A 1997 revision allowed Seoul to develop a ballistic missile carrying a 500-kilogram warhead with a maximum range of 300 kilometers. Another revision was made in 2012 that extended the ballistic missile range to 800 kilometers with a 500-kilogram warhead.
Following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test in 2017, Seoul and Washington agreed to scrap the limit on warhead weight, and another revision was made in 2020 to allow the development of solid-propellant space rockets.
